The victims: details of 27 emerge

Here is a full list of victims shot dead on Friday at Sandy Hook school.
Gunman Adam Lanza shot dead 20 children and 7 adults in the Connecticut
school massacre.

11:54AM GMT 16 Dec 2012

Children

Charlotte Bacon, six (above) Charlotte was wearing a new pink dress and boots to school on Friday, which her mother let her wear after much begging even though she was supposed to keep them for the holidays.

Her parents, JoAnn and Joel, had lived in Newtown for four or five years, JoAnn's brother John Hagen told Newsday.

"She was going to go some places in this world," he said. "This little girl could light up the room for anyone."

Olivia Engel, six (above) "She was the teacher's pet, the line leader," said Dan Merton, a friend of Olivia Engel's family. "She had perfect manners, perfect table manners. She loved attention. Her only crime is being a wiggly, smiley 6-year-old."

He said she was simply excited to go to school on Friday to come home and make a gingerbread house.

Josephine Gay, seven (above)

Ana Marquez-Green, six (above) Her father Jimmy, a jazz saxophonist, said: "As much as she's needed here and missed by her mother, brother and me, Ana beat us all to paradise. I love you, sweetie girl."

Dylan Hockley, six (above) A British boy from Hampshire who moved with his parents and older brother to Newtown, Connecticut, two years ago.

His mother, Nicole, a former marketing consultant, recently described the area as "a wonderful place to live" with "incredible" neighbours and "amazing" schools.

Mrs Hockley and her husband Ian, who is from Eastleigh, Hants, live almost opposite the house where 20-year-old Adam Lanza, the gunman, lived.

Madeleine Hsu, six Matthew Velsmid, a doctor, was at Madeleine's family home on Saturday, tending to her family. He said he went to the school to provide assistance on Friday but there were no injuries to treat.

"We were waiting for casualties to come out, and there was nothing," he said. "There was no need, unfortunately. This is the darkest thing I've ever walked into, by far."

Catherine Hubbard, six (above) Catherine's parents, Jennifer and Matthew Hubbard, said: "We are greatly saddened by the loss of our beautiful daughter, Catherine Violet and our thoughts and prayers are with the other families who have been affected by this tragedy. We ask that you continue to pray for us and the other families who have experienced loss in this tragedy."

Chase Kowalski, seven (above) He was always outside riding his bicycle and won his first mini-triathlon recently, according to Kevin Grimes, a neighbour. "You couldn't think of a better child," he said.

Jesse Lewis, six (above) Neil Heslin, his father, said: "These were helpless little children. The question is why - and I guess we will never know.

"It was a cowardly thing he did to the victims and a cowardly thing he did to himself. The way he died - by killing himself like that - was too good. It was just a cowardly way."

James Mattioli, six (above) His mother Cindy grew up in the New York town of Sherrill, where Mayor William Vineall told the Utica Observer-Dispatch: "It's a terrible tragedy, and we're a tight community. Everybody will be there for them, and our thoughts and prayers are there for them."

Grace McDonnell, seven (above) Kim Torre-Tasso, a neighbour, described Grace as a "bright, blond little girl with a cherubic face - if you could describe an angel it would be her." She said the child and her mother were "symbiotic - she was like her little best friend."

Emilie Parker, six (above) Her father Robbie struggled to speak through tears as he described his blond, always-smiling girl who loved to try new things. "I'm so blessed to be her dad," he said.

"As the deep pain begins to settle into our hearts, we find comfort reflecting on the incredible person that Emilie was and how many lives she was able to touch in her short time here on Earth.

"The world is a better place because she has been in it."

Jack Pinto, six

Noah Pozner, six (above) His uncle, Arthur Pozner, described him as "very well brought-up" and "extremely bright".

He said Noah's parents had moved to Newtown to send their children to the school. "The reason they moved to that area is because they did not consider any school in New York state on the same level," he told Newsday. "That's one of the reasons they moved, for safety and education."

Caroline Previdi, six (above)

Jessica Rekos, six (above)

Avielle Richman, six

Benjamin Wheeler, six

Allison Wyatt, six

Adults

Rachel Davino, 29, school staff

Dawn Hochsprung, 46, principal (above) She was one of the first to try to stop the gunman. She lunged at him, but he shot her dead.

She took pride in her school, telling The Newtown Bee two years ago: "I don't think you could find a more positive place to bring students every day."

Anne Marie Murphy, 52, school staff (above) Tried to use her own body to shield her pupils. Police told her father that her body was found in a classroom covering a group of children who also died. Hugh McGowan, 86, of Katonah, New York State, said: "A first responder said she was a hero."

Her father Hugh McGowan told Newsday: "You don't expect your daughter to be murdered. It happens on TV. It happens elsewhere."

Mary Sherlach, 56, psychologist (above) Was coming out of a meeting with Dawn Hochsprung when they heard the noise. She and the principal were both shot dead.

Victoria Soto, 27, teacher (above) Was killed when she used her own body to shield her pupils. She died in a hail of bullets but is thought to have saved the lives of at least some children.

"She put herself between the gunman and the children and that's when she was tragically shot and killed," said Jim Wiltsie, her cousin.

Lauren Rousseau, 30, teacher (above) Lived in Newtown with her mother, Teresa. Her mother said her daughter had started a permanent job at the school this autumn. "It was the best year of her life," she said.

Nancy Lanza, 52, gunman's mother (above) Her son, Adam, used her guns to shoot her dead before driving in her car to the school. "She said she would often go target shooting with her kids," Dan Holmes, owner of the landscaping firm Holmes Fine Gardens told Reuters.

Rhonda Cullens, a neighbour, said: "She was a very nice lady. She was just like all the rest of us in the neighbourhood, just a regular person."